Colonia

Colonia kept my husband and me awake at night. We were in bed, ready to sleep but I guess we still needed time to digest it. We both wondered why we never had heard of it before.

It is a good film overall; one that’s gripping - up to an uncomfortable level – and one that makes you think. With Daniel Brühl (from Goodbye Lenin and Glorious Bastards), Emma Watson and Michael Nyqvist the main protagonists are well chosen. The acting is calm but leaves an impact behind.

The story is based on true events, namely that there had been an ex-Nazi cult in Pinochet’s Chile called Colonia Dignidad. The plot is about a young woman, who decides to find her abducted boyfriend and ends up in that infamous cult that nobody had ever escaped from.

I guess for me its always fascinating in a scary way how people get brainwashed, how control and power works, and with how much corrupt people and governments get away with.

The film is very good at almost giving you a heart attack with the way it keeps the tension up, and although that would usually be a plus point for a movie, I almost found it exhausting to feel that way until the very end. I also had the impression that because it could keep the tension up throughout the whole time, the film didn’t bother so much to go deeper and sometimes got away with rather unrealistic moments.

Still, I recommend Colonia as stories like that can be found all around the world, in some way or another, and manipulation of the mind is always right around the corner.